Men's Soccer

Men's Soccer Set for Opener

Sept. 1, 2010

NORTH DARTMOUTH, MA-The UMass Dartmouth men's soccer team will have a new look this year.

The Corsairs, who return three of 11 starters from the team that finished fourth in the Little East Conference and advanced to the LEC championship match last fall, will be bolstered by an infusion of new talent.

"We're excited about the upcoming season," said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Henry Almeida. "We're going to be young. We had a lot of senior leadership, and we lost some seniors and some upperclassmen who will not be back. We are looking for our young players to step up."

The Corsairs were solid in goal last year, and return all three goalkeepers in sophomores Mike Phelan (Carver, MA/Carver HS), Kellen Rauch (Ashland, MA/Ashland HS), and Jon Doucette (Boxford, MA/Masconomet HS). "We should be solid in the back, with Mike returning as our number one goalkeeper," said Almeida. "We lost (senior defender) Ronnie Beaudoin (Weymouth, MA/Weymouth HS), who graduated, but we added (freshman) Alex Machado from New Bedford High who will fill his role in the back, so we expect our defense to remain intact."

UMass Dartmouth hopes for a strong attack. "We're excited about our guys up front, with (freshman) Victor Ferreira from New Bedford High, who was their player of the year four years in a row," said Almeida. "We also have (senior) Kyle Estrella (Dartmouth, MA/Dartmouth HS), who transferred from Rhode Island College, and we're very excited about having those guys."

The captains, seniors Giuliano Basile (East Longmeadow, MA/East Longmeadow HS), Mike Alves (Seekonk, MA/Seekonk HS) and Andrew Eggleston (Belchertown, MA/Belchertown HS) will be counted on to provide leadership. "Mike Alves, Giuliano Basile and Andrew Eggleston will be expected to lead by example," said Almeida. "We also have a midfielder who transferred from Manhattan College in (sophomore) Eric Neves (Somerset, MA/LaSalle HS-RI), who should contribute."

The Corsairs hope to jell quickly. "We need to come together as a team," said Almeida. "We have a limited number of upperclassmen, and we hope that what we lack in experience can be made up by enthusiasm. It is going to be an interesting season."

UMass Dartmouth opens their season Saturday when they host Salve Regina at 2:00 p.m.